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SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. (January 25, 2024) - North Carolina is annually home to some of the strongest junior golfers in the country and each year, one girl and one boy are named the North Carolina Junior Players of the Year each year by the Tarheel Youth Golf Association (TYGA) and Carolinas Golf Association (CGA).

Jenna Kim of Raleigh, N.C., and Will Hartman of Marvin, N.C., have earned this distinguished honor for 2023 by having a successful year in junior golf events at the local, state, regional, and national levels.

 

JUNIOR GIRLS'

Jenna Kim showed excellent consistency and dominant play over her 2023 season, highlighted by an astounding seven junior victories and eleven top-10 finishes in sixteen events. Her list of wins is highlighted by the 14-year-old winning the 2023 Carolinas Women's Amateur Championship from North Ridge Country Club over extremely strong competition.

Her additional wins included, most notably, the 2023 Carolina Junior Girls' Championship from Rock Hill Country Club, the PKBGT Masters, the Carolinas Junior Girls PGA, AJGA Greenwood Junior Championship, Short Par 4 Girls Palmetto, TYGA 2023 Pinecrest Girls HS Invitational, and the NCISAA Girls' State Championship.

Kim's Other notable finishes included second place at the 2023 Vicki DiSantis Junior Girls' Championship and at the TYGA North State Junior Girls' High School Challenge. She also finished third at the PKBGT National Spring Bell Invitational, fourth place at the AJGA Hilton Head Junior, and seventh at the AJGA Matthew NeSmith Junior Championship.

 

JUNIOR BOYS'

Will Hartman had a hectic and successful season on the junior golf circuit, including victories at the SCJGA 29th Annual Bobby Chapman and the TYGA North State High School Challenge from the Country Club of Salisbury to claim the 2023 Carolinas Junior Boy's Player of the Year.

On the national scale, a major accomplishment was his semi-finalist finish at the 2023 US Junior Boys' Championship from Daniel Island Club's Ralston Creek Course and fifth place at the 2023 Junior PGA Championship from Hot Springs Country Club.

Added to that were a second-place finish at the Carmel Country Club High School Shootout and a third-place finish at the AJGA Junior Players Championship by Rolex. Other notable finishes were his fourth place at the AJGA Team Taylormade Invitational and seventh at the Palmetto High School Championship. Hartman, a 2025 high school graduate, has verbally committed to playing golf at Vanderbilt University.

 

The Player of the Year awards are determined by a combination of each player's tournament scoring differential and the total points earned in the TYGA North Carolina Junior Rankings from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023, and who have not started college.

 

About the Tarheel Youth Golf Association (TYGA)

The Tarheel Youth Golf Association (TYGA), a division of the Carolinas Golf Association, a 501 (c) 3 organization, provides playing opportunities for its members, conducts educational seminars and events, acts as a junior golf informational clearinghouse, provides free USGA handicaps to junior golfers in North Carolina, recruits sponsor clubs that grant junior access to golf facilities in North Carolina, publishes monthly North Carolina junior rankings, and awards Junior Player of the Year and All-State awards to the top juniors in North Carolina. Membership is open to any boy or girl who are legal residents of N.C.; are 18 years of age and under; and who have not started college. 

 

About the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA)

The CGA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1909 to promote and protect the game of golf in the Carolinas by providing competitions, education, support, and benefits to golf clubs and golfers. The CGA is one of the top 5 golf association in the country, with over 700 member clubs representing over 200,000 individuals.

The CGA annually conducts 48 championships and five team match competitions for men, women, juniors, and seniors. It also runs over 150 One-Day (net and gross) events and qualifying for USGA national championships. The CGA serves golf in the Carolinas with numerous programs such as: the USGA Handicap System; tournament management software and support; course measuring and course/slope ratings; agronomy consultation; answers about the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, and Handicapping; the Carolinas Golf Magazine; Interclub series; Tarheel Youth Golf Association; Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame; expense assistance for USGA Junior and Girls' Junior qualifiers from the Carolinas; and the Carolinas Golf Foundation (CGF). The CGF has distributed over $2,700,000 since 1977 to benefit Carolinas' golf initiatives, including junior and women's programs.

For more information about the Carolinas Golf Association, follow @cgagolf1909 on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok, or visit our website www.carolinasgolf.org

 

 

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